I want, I want – I want it now!!!!

I think it’s time to move out of this consumerism mindset. First of all it’s expensive, and second it tends to generate stuff… and since my goal for this year is to reduce stuff…out the door the shopping sprees goes 😉

Today I’m taking a stab at decluttering my life in 2014 with a promise – to make an effort to buy only necessities. You know, needs rather than wants.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m going to live on oats, walk around with my toe sticking out my socks, only shower once a week, never use the car, use next to no electricity and so on…. you get the picture 😉

Nope, I have every intention of still living good. In my world, I believe necessities are what you need to survive, and live a happy life.

This definition, might include items in addition to the basics of food, clothing, and shelters. But the key is; what do you really need? And even more so, do you need it all the time? or can it be an occasional treat?

Since we are all have different life’s and interests, needs will differ from person to person. Have you ever thought about what your absolute needs are?

I know, this might not be for everybody, but if you have been thinking about the same lately. You know: buying less, saving money, less impact on the environment and so forth. And if you like me, just starting out, why don’t you make a list of your own, like I’m doing below 🙂

My overall general rules

Only buy necessities. Replace an item that is broken/ used up only if I really, really need to.
I will use up the stuff I have before I consider replacing.
I will try to find creative ways to meet my needs, and make do with the things I already have before I consider buying more.

Some of my allowances

Yes, allowances, I gotta live a little 😉

Books – I can buy up to 10 books/magazines for the whole year – you might say this is not a necessity, but I love books, and house/garden magazine and believe me a total of 10 books or magazine is quite a limit for me. And I will preferable get them as e-books since I don’t want to add to my already overflowing bookshelves.

Eating out – I eat out a lot, and the goal for 2014 is to cut down to at least half the amount of times I eat out. Yes I know, eating out is not an necessity either, but it’s an enjoyment I’m not quite willing to let go of yet.

Flowers and plants – I love my garden, I might even be a little bit obsessive about it – just ask anybody that know me 🙂 And I love having plants and flowers in my house, so I will allow myself to get some summer plant for the garden and the occasional orchid or cut flowers for indoors. But I do promises to not go totally overboard like I have a tendency to do. The goal for 2014 it to cut down to procuring less than half of what I normally would.

None negational items

I have several projects inside and outside the house, that have been in the making for quite some time and are planned for this year. These I will have to spend a little money on. And even thought doing the projects might not be strictly necessities (well, some of them are starting to be), I am still sticking to my my original plan 🙂 So what are these projects you may ask? Well… I’ll let you know as I move along with them…

Thank you for sharing this post! I so need to start sticking to a similar plan. My only issues are there are some things I feel ARE necessities even though others look at them as luxuries. Books for instance (I’m a book fiend!). And plants/flowers (love to see green and colorful plants around me). I know what you mean about them being important. But to me, they are necessities. Because they bring much needed peace into my otherwise chaotic household and life. Spending money on things that can bring a modicum of peace and comfort is important I think. I do need to watch eating out though. I do entirely too much of that and could probably save a ton of money just by not being lazy and eating at home (not wanting to cook is my worst habit ever and the most costly). I really look forward to reading more of your blog!

🙂 I absolutely agree with you about books, I’m just trying to moderate myself this year and putting a limit on buying means I will have to read the ones I already have in the house 😉 And plants.. you are right.. just to let you know, English is my second language 😉 so I obviously used the wrong word, plants are a necessity for me as well (maybe I should have spelled important in large letters 😉 ) And as an update.. I’m doing better on the eating out, a friend of mine and me are now making dinner every Sunday instead of going out. Much more fun.. and we are saving money as well… now we’ll just have to see how long we last.